


forget about love

by pepperimps01



Series: The Scorbus Chronicles [3]
Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: April 2022, Despite the summary, Gen, not Scorose, partially a vent fic, rose needs more love, wlw rose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29134884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepperimps01/pseuds/pepperimps01
Summary: In which Rose and Scorpius talk about what it means to be in love.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy & Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Series: The Scorbus Chronicles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2121267
Kudos: 16





	forget about love

It was a clear, crisp spring day at Hogwarts. Classes had long ended, and several students were enjoying the sunshine by the Great Lake. Some students were relaxing under the oak trees nearby, dozing off from the cool shade instead of the heat from the sun. Textbooks and sweet wrappers were discarded lazily in several piles, some open, others not touched at all. It was Friday, after all. No one except the extremely studious would bother doing homework on such a lovely day. Especially not on a Friday.

Rose was by the sparkling lake, shoes and socks tossed aside as she dipped her toes in the refreshing water. Concentrating with all her might, she picked up a flat stone and flicked it across. It skimmed a good three times, before plopping into the water. The circular reflection surrounding it as it fell into the deep lake. She sighed, lost in thought. She had finished all of her homework hours ago, so she didn't really have any plans. There wasn't any Hogsmeade this weekend either, nor any Quidditch games. Sure she could spend time with her friends, a gaggle of girls she often gossiped with, but whenever she did talk with them, she felt as though she was wasting time.

_'Shouldn't you be doing something right now? Why are you relaxing? You're so lazy.'_

'Stop it.' She thought to herself. 'I'm allowed to relax- I'm allowed to-' She flung another rock into the water. This time, it skimmed five times. Impressed with herself for a brief moment, she smiled.

Something disrupted her concentration. A group of students cheered loudly.

"Rose!" Polly Chapman waved from farther away. "Yann is going to do a backflip for us. Wanna watch?" She batted her eyelashes at Yann, who grinned cheekily as a kiss was planted on their cheek.

"Back handspring." Yann corrected sheepishly.

"No one cares what it's called." Karl rolled his eyes. Yann scowled, swatting their hand at the Hufflepuff's head.

"Shut up, Karl." Polly snapped.

"Sorry Polly."

Rose smirked. "I'll watch, just ...don't break your neck."

But whatever gymnastics trick Yann did, Rose wasn't watching. Her mind was back at the water. She flicked the stone across. Six times.

"Yes!" She cheered silently.

"How do you do that?"

Rose jumped, startled by the sudden noise. She faced Scorpius, who was behind her. Had he grown taller? He seemed to tower over her every day. Casually holding a textbook in one hand, his other hand in his trouser pocket. Less awkward, more confident and pristine with his perfectly placed platinum hair. If she was attracted to him, or boys in general, she might have found him attractive.

"Sorry," He said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought you heard me."

Rose shrugged, never admitting that she had been startled, let alone scared. Thinking he was referring to Yann, she said: "Oh Yann's been doing gymnastics since they were three. I suppose just lots of practice and-"

"No, no. I meant your rock throwing." He gestured with an exaggerated wrist thrust. "That."

Rose blushed, still puzzled. "Um. My mum taught me ages ago. How to skip stones, I mean. You get the hang of it with practice. " Her dark brown eyes glanced back at the water. "Do you need something?" She hadn't meant to come across as snippy. She was stressed, a bit irritated and always wary of Scorpius, who had been flirting with her for the past few years. Now that he was dating Albus, that had stopped, but that didn't mean things weren't awkward. Admittedly, she had no idea how to react in front of him, and cold, short responses seemed the easiest way for him to stop bothering her.

"No." Scorpius shook his head. "I just wanted to talk."

Well that was unexpected.

"Talk?" She echoed.

"Yeah," He chuckled, fiddling with his hands. "As friends." He added hastily.

Rose gave him a funny look, but sat down on the damp dew grass, gesturing him to sit beside her. He happily obliged, avoiding a patch of mud in between them.

"Your hair looks nice today."

She snorted in amusement. Her hair looked exactly the same as it always did, two afro puffs on each side. She never saw any point to change it, she liked it how it was. Still, it was a nice thing to say when he didn't have an alternative motive.

"Thanks, yours does too." She said teasingly.

Scorpius dimpled. "Cheers, Rose."

"So, what did you really want to talk about? Not that I'm complaining, but usually you're off frolicking with Al." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "You two didn't have a row, did you?"

"No!" Scorpius exclaimed. "Everything's fine. I was just..." He frowned, trying to find the words. "Do you know what being in love is like?" He asked, rather bluntly. Scorpius was never one for being subtle.

Rose looked uneasy. "For the last time, I'm never going to go out with you."

"Yes, we've established that." Scorpius joked. "When you kicked me in the shin."

Relieved, she smiled softly. "To answer your question, yes I do."

"Oh. With-"

"It doesn't matter who it was." She said quickly. "It was a long time ago." To be fair, there were quite a few girls who made her heart flutter.

"Noted. And how did you know?"

She frowned. "What's this about, Scorpius? Is there a point to this?"

"There is."

"Then what-"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know if I'm in love with Albus." He looked troubled, and the minute the words left his lips, he backtracked. "Wait. I mean I love him lots, but I'm worried that I don't love him, love him."

"You've been dating only a few months, I don't think that's uncommon."

"I know it doesn't make any sense." Scorpius said. "But lately I've been having doubts. If my feelings are real. Even though I love him."

"I don't follow. You love him but you're worried you don't love him?"

"Yes, and no."

"What makes you think that?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Well, we've been through so much together. We're practically attached at the hip. I'd do anything for him. He's brilliant. Smart, caring, so so handsome and...he makes my heart melt. Like, actually feel melting. Maybe it's his eyes. They're green like emeralds and beautiful to stare at..."

Rose raised her hand. "He's also my cousin."

"Right, sorry."

"That was quite obvious." Her lip twitched. "So, what's the problem? It sounds like you care about him."

"Yes, _but_ we've been all matey since first year. What if I just admire his friendship? What if these feelings are fake? I can't imagine hurting him if I say this but-" He looked close to tears. "I can't lose him."

Rose was uncomfortable, a reaction she had whenever someone cried in front of her. "Look, I know feelings are ...difficult to understand. Especially for people like us." An unspoken understanding of what she meant dawned on them both.

Scorpius looked down miserably.

"Love is a very complicated emotion that even I don't fully understand. I guess my answer to your question is: When you're in love, you feel different. A certain amount of joy that makes you willing to stand by that person or people no matter what. It's not something you can just...control. It happens as is.

But, you're also sixteen and you don't need to understand this shite completely. So live life, let your hair down, enjoy being with my cousin, sipping butterbeer with heart shaped foam." She teased.

Scorpius gave a watery laugh. "Yeah,"

"But, for what it's worth...I've never seen a relationship quite like you and Albus." She shrugged again. "I'm probably the last person to talk about romance. It's not really important to me." She looked back at Polly and her friends thoughtfully.

Those thoughts had to wait.

"So, are you ready for next week's match? Gryffindor's going to crush Hufflepuff." She smirked confidently.

"I'll be rooting for you." Scorpius assured her, immensely pleased for his friend.

"You'll come to the match?"

"Of course, and I'll wear red and gold even though it does /not/ look good on me."

She laughed. "Great! Thanks..." She trailed off.

"Rose?" Scorpius asked, puzzled, looking in the direction she was facing. "Are you alright?"

A group of girls were approaching the lake, wearing bikinis and giggling and squealing as they touched the water. A tall Gryffindor girl with wide hips and golden hair dove underwater with a splash. Rose blushed and turned away.

"Isn't that Frankie Longbottom?" He smiled. "She looks nice."

"What?" She said, still a bright crimson. "I've got to go---study." She darted away, nearly dropping a stack of books as she practically sprinted back inside.

Scorpius' eyes widened in realization, then chuckled. 


End file.
